General Music

7th GRADE

7th Grade General Music is a Project based class. The students will be learning about the Elements of Music as they create a Music Composition that they will burn to CD. They will also create a Video Biography and create a Crazy Music Video which will be burned to a DVD. It is my goal to make General Music as interesting, fun, creative, and useful as possible while meeting both the National and State Curriculum Guidelines for Music Education.

Our first project will have your son or daughter composing an original piece of music using GarageBand software on the computer. Given parameters that will include all of the elements of music, the students will complete the project by “burning” their work onto a CD that will provide a performance of their composition. The second project – a Video Biography – will require that your son or daughter bring in about 36 – 45 pictures of him or herself, from newborn to the present. The pictures will be scanned into a computer (we will NOT cut or destroy any pictures in the process) where they will be edited into a chronological timeline, rhythmically aligned to music, and given titles and transitions. The project will be burned to a DVD and will be sent home for you to enjoy. Our final project will be the creation of a Crazy Music Video. This project will introduce your son or daughter to using a video camera, analyzing the lyrics of a “Crazy” song, and working cooperatively and creatively to create a fun musical story.
The Video Bio on DVD and the Composed Music on CD will be provided for each student. If you would like to have an extra copy of the DVD the cost of the Media will be $2.00 for each copy.

If you have any questions or comments please contact me at the school or email me at ke_dwade@kentschools.net and I will answer as soon as possible.

8th GRADE

It is my goal to make General Music as interesting, fun, creative, and useful as possible while meeting both the National and State Curriculum Guidelines for Music Education. This year the students will be learning about the Elements of Music as they create Program Music (music that tells a story) to a children’s picture book. The students will use GarageBand software to create both music and a podcast. We will complete the work by putting the podcast and program music to a video that incorporates the pictures from the story.
Upon completing their program music the students will spend time learning about the History of Broadway. We will watch a Broadway Musical in the classroom. Then we will create a Crazy Music Video that will require the students look up lyrics to an appropriate – if crazy – song. Then, taking cues from the lyrics, the students will creatively tell the story musically in a Music Video format. Finally, the students will be given a quick 4 day introduction to the Classical Western European History of Music

Your son or daughter will not be required to supply or purchase anything for the class. However, if they have a storybook with great pictures that was a favorite from their “early” years and they would like to use it for their Program Music Composition, I would encourage them to bring it into the classroom to use in the project. The book will only be used for reference and scanning and they will be able to bring it home after use.

These projects may seem to involve more than just Music Education but in fact we will be accomplishing and meeting many of the State Music Ed Standards as well as most of the National Standards for Music Education in the process. If you are interested in the Curriculum Alignment with the standards I will be happy to provide them for you upon request.

If you have any questions or comments please contact me at the school or email me at ke_dwade@kentschools.net and I will answer as soon as possible.